Over the last couple of years, with a baby and book-in-progress, I found I largely lost the ability to read whole books. Sure, I pillaged for research, I browsed magazines, and I frantically devoured books and blog posts about how to get your baby to sleep/eat/stop crying, but I didn’t just read for pleasure. So now that the latest book is completed and toured, I decided I wanted to just read for fun for a bit. Whatever I happened to find on my shelf (or someone else’s), or at a used book sale or library. So for the last ten days of the year, I will do short reviews of this eclectic mix of titles that have helped me remember the simple joy of reading. #1. I found this sitting on the shelf of a vacation property on Gabriola Island a couple of weeks ago. One morning I woke up at 4:30am and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I read it snuggled on the couch cover-to-cover before anyone else woke up! Rebel Women: Achievements Beyond the Ordinary (Heritage House) By Linda Kupacek A title in the Amazing Stories series of books, this collection of portraits of ‘rebel women’ fits right in with its clear prose, funny anecdotes, and, yes, amazing stories lifted from the lives of some pretty incredible ladies. I particularly appreciated the mentions of silent film actress and writer/director Nell Shipman, as well as Katherine Stinson, who was responsible for the first air mail delivery here in Edmonton. Isobel Gunn was also a fascinating figure and kudos to the author, Linda Kupacek, for the historical digging that went into uncovering her story (as well as the stories of the other women). This is a great way to inspire new generations of women growing up in Canada’s West – and around the world – and an enjoyable way to learn some history while you’re at it!

Zakiya Kassam (@zakkasam on Twitter) is a 22-year-old graduate of the Ryerson University Journalism Program. Recently, she interviewed me for an article she was writing on new models of Journalism like Beststory.ca and we thought we’d share the Q&A here!

Z: Tell me about your own personal story with beststory.ca. How did you hear about it? How did you become a writer for it?

D: Warren Perley sent me an email a couple of years ago after he’d come across some of my work. I was intrigued by the concept, impressed by his credentials, and we stayed in touch. Because I’m primarily a book writer, and generally can’t afford to write articles until I have a contract in hand, it was some time before I had a piece to submit.

Z: What is your experience working with Warren Perley, the founder?

D: My experience has been very positive working with Warren. He’s an excellent editor and was quite patient working with someone who’s been trained as a historian and creative writer but not as a journalist. I did a significant rewrite to incorporate his suggestions, and it strengthened the piece and my skills overall.

Z: Have you experienced any setbacks or limitations when writing for the site?

D: I’ve heard from some people that they find the idea of paying for articles on a one-off basis frustrating, and are lamenting that a lot of the big (and not-so-big) dailies are going this route. My writer colleagues also question the wisdom of writing “on spec”: doing all that work without the guarantee of revenue. It has certainly been a calculated risk on my part, but I see it as being one more tool in my “bookonomics” kit.

Also, I love that the site works great on tablets, phones, and “phablets,” like the Galaxy Note, but I would like for readers to be able to download copies of the articles they’ve purchased onto their computers and other devices. At the moment, they can only read them when they have an internet connection. This is one area where Warren and I have different opinions: I don’t believe in digital locks. While copyright protection and the fair compensation for content creators is very important to me, I think digital locks end up frustrating the consumer/reader more than anything, and if a pirate really wants something, he or she can easily circumvent them.

Z: What is your readership for the site like?

D: Very small at the moment. I don’t have any demographic breakdowns, but that would be interesting to know.

Z: How long have you been writing for the site?

D: I submitted my first (and so far my only) piece in June 2012. Now I’m back to work on other columns, articles, and a narrative history book called Polar Winds: A Century of Flying the North.

D: I thought the concept was neat and liked that Warren was trying to create a space for writers to do long-form journalism with lots of great photos. I had it in the back of my mind that I’d like to write for beststory.ca someday, and so when I found myself with a homeless article, I queried Warren. I’m not the most adventurous person technologically, but I think it’s smart to experiment with different means of delivering content.

Z: Given the current state of journalism, do you think that a site like beststory.ca can survive in the long-run? Why/Why not?

D: Journalism, book publishing – it’s all in a state of flux right now and I think having a multitude of connection points with readers is important. I don’t know what the long-term viability of beststory.ca is, but I don’t think anyone really knows the long-term viability of anything at the moment: newspapers, book publishers, agents. Are we headed to a day when all writing will be self-published, crowd-funded, and open-source done by so-called citizen journalists? Who knows!

Last year, fellow Edmonton writer Dawn Dumont was nominated for the Alberta’s Readers Choice Award. Her book, Nobody Cries at Bingo makes fun of her misadventures during her younger years on the Okanese First Nations reserve in Saskatchewan. For a province that has 31 bingo halls, locals can’t seem to get enough of the 75-ball bingo that is popular in Fantasyland Bingo, Cheekybingo.com, and Lucky Horseshoe. Even churches in Saskatchewan use the game for charity fundraisers!

In her book, Dawn admits the game was a staple in their family gatherings. She was once quoted as saying: “Bingo was an understood rule in our family.”

Of course, the book goes far beyond bingo: Dawn apparently recounts, with much mirth, her various experiences as a typical Canadian teen who faced weight issues, bickered with siblings, and had boy problems. .

Dawn’s ability to make fun of herself apparently stems from years of being a stand-up comedian. She’s performed in Toronto and New York comedy spots like Laugh Resort, Yuk Yuk’s, Improv, New York Comedy Club, and Comic Strip. She now authors plays and currently writes for radio and television. She is also a story editor for the satirical cartoon series “By the Rapids.”
Some of the reviews from Goodreads have piqued my interest as well: “Gives us a new horizon against which to measure our experiences – inviting us into life on the reservation,” and “she paints a picture of rez life with great affection and understanding and humor.”

Finding the Unique in Your Family Story: a summer-time writing adventure.

How do you write a lively and fascinating family memoir? How do you draw and satisfy readers from in and outside the family? What particular issues arise when writing family stories?

Both the instructors of this workshop, Caterina Edwards and Jean Crozier, faced these questions and more in producing their own families’ stories. They came to understand the complexities of family story-telling: the benefits and anxieties, the need for accuracy and the need to handle certain materials with great sensitivity.

Through discussion and examples, this workshop will assist students in identifying the unique characteristics of their own families. The instructors will assist students in weaving family perspectives and personalities – and their accompanying foibles, adventures, and challenges – into an intriguing, readable narrative. Literary techniques such as voice, dialogue, evocation of time and place, as well as truth and viewpoint, will be considered as students practice bringing family members
to life right on the page.

Students will write short pieces in class with prompts from the instructors; class members will read their work and share their situations, challenges, and successes in a supportive environment.

Our students have told us that:

“The two instructors complemented each other so well; they truly enhanced the program with their individual and shared expertise.”

“I leave the course inspired and much further along in my project.?”

Maximum class size: 10 students

Date: Wednesday, August 14, 2013 and Thursday, August 15, 2013

Time: 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM

Price: Early bird registration (registration and payment received by July
20, 2013) just

Want to learn more about the War of 1812? Want to know why General Sir Isaac Brock, Laura Secord and Lieutenant James Fitzgibbon were important to all Canadians? Want to know who really burned down the White House?

Learn about the people, battles, tactics and weapons through video, seminars, tours, and group discussions.

The main news this year was the arrival of Andre Barrett Pagnutti on April 17. We named him for my paternal grandfather, André Chenail, and my maternal grandmother, Shirley Barrett, and tried to encompass his French-Canadian, British, and Italian heritage. We’re also embracing his aviation connections as you can see in this photo!

From the beginning we knew he wasn’t going to be a mellow baby. Luckily Home Depot carries inexpensive industrial-strength ear muffs, and nature endowed him with an adorable giggle and a heart-melting smile.

He put these to good use to charm family and friends on “Baby Tour 2012.” The Eastern Leg took us to Ottawa, Gatineau, and Belleville in June, where we introduced Andre to his grandparents, great-grandparents, and about 100 other loved ones. Then in August we went to Victoria to visit another part of the clan and attend the wedding of our dear friends. Of course Doug took this opportunity to sneak in a bit of scuba diving as well.

All this excitement and upheaval has meant work’s been going a bit slower than usual. I stepped down as president of the Canadian Aviation Historical Society and am now “just” on the board of directors. My unofficial portfolios include managing the social media accounts, and helping with promotion and fundraising. I’ve managed to write and publish a few pieces in addition to working on “the book” and hosted a lively panel at LitFest that included Noah Richler, Alexis Kienlen, and Dana DiTomaso. I was also named to Avenue magazine’s Top 40 Under 40 list for Edmonton, which was really neat!

2013 looks like it will be a fun and busy year for all of us: Andre’s now in childcare three days per week, which he seems to love; Doug’s moving into a new phase of his work with Schlumberger as an engineer that could lead to some travel opportunities; and I have a few essays, articles and poems in the pipeline for publication. My next book, Polar Winds: A Century of Flying Canada’s North, is also slotted to be released by Frontenac House late in the year.

Hope this note finds you well and I wish you all the best this holiday season!

Getting the antlers on the dog and getting him in position was pretty easy. He takes direction well, especially when there are treats involved.

Wrestling the cat into the Santa suit was a different story. And getting him into the “sleigh” was nearly impossible…the dog is getting anxious now!

This photo almost could have worked, except it’s blurry, and the “reindeer” is looking pretty emotionally battered by “santa.”

Finally the photographer comes to the rescue, holding the cat “just so” so we’ll be able to digitally insert him into a photo with the dog. And voila! A Christmas miracle shot after 15 minutes of painting an old drawer, an accidental discovery of a pet santa suit at Homesense, and a bag of pet treats! (Oh yeah, and Photoshop)

On a recent trip to Toronto I was able to get together with a good friend from my undergrad years at McGill University, Katie Reed. We met at her shop, Sole Survivor, in Kensington Market.

Katie, who is 28 years old, has owned and operated this cobbling business for two years. As a young woman, she bucks the cobbler stereotype (in fact, she is the only female cobbler in the Greater Toronto Area). After a B.A. from McGill and teaching jobs in Japan, it certainly wasn’t a career path her friends imagined for her. But like all her undertakings, she has thrown herself into it completely and made it a success.

It has required a lot of hard work and determination. Just finding someone in the GTA to apprentice her was a seemingly insurmountable challenge: she was turned away by all but one of the working cobblers in the region. Now that she is experienced and established in this trade, she is taking on an apprentice of her own (another woman) to pass along her knowledge.

Katie is keeping our favourite shoes in tip-top shape (including finance ministers at budget time!), which can save us precious pennies. She is also keeping many out of landfills, a great way to lessen our footprint (if you’ll pardon the pun).

For more information on her and how she got into cobbling, check out these articles:

There are so many tablets on the market that it can be difficult trying to decide which one to buy. Here, guest blogger and tech-toy junky Doug Pagnutti gives his take on which pass the test for the average consumer:

My favourite one so far is the Asus 10″ Transformer. The tablet itself is pretty much like all the other Android honeycomb tablets but the keyboard that comes with it is genius. Not only does it provide a few USB ports and an SD Card reader (perfect for getting pictures from cameras) but it has a built-in battery so you can double the battery life on the road. Basically you get a netbook where the screen detaches and becomes a tablet.

All the other tablets at the moment seem pretty uninspiring. The iPad and iPad2 are probably the best for ease-of-use but the fact you can’t view flash sites, as well as the proprietary ports make it less useful. The slew of android tablets are all pretty much the same although prices seem to be going down quickly. Definitely get one that runs honeycomb (3.X) because Android 2.X doesn’t really work for tablets. The only other 10″ of note is the HP TouchPad that just came out. Apparently the software is great (it’s really made by Palm, which HP bought) but the hardware is already out of date (HP should only make printers).

Personally I’m holding out for a good 7″ tablet with usb ports and there’s a good chance the Acer A100 will fit the bill. Amazon is planning to come out with a bunch of tablets this year too but it’s hard to guess what they’ll be like. The one I was really hoping for was the Asus Memo but they just announced it would be “indefinitely delayed”.

I should also say that if you’re looking for something to read e-books, you’re much better off buying an e-reader. The screens don’t hurt your eyes, they’re much much lighter (easier to hold for extended periods) and the batteries last months instead of hours.

This past Sunday, September 6, 2009, my wonderful mother-in-law, Dawn Kenny, passed away. Last November this upbeat, energetic woman was diagnosed with an exceedingly rare form of cancer, cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer) at the age of 48. There has been no shortage of exclamations from friends and family: “It’s so unfair!” “How can it be?!” But rule #1 on the playground is life’s not fair.

Doug and I managed to get back to Ottawa before she died. Doug was in the oilfield when my father-in-law called to say Dawn had been moved to the ICU, and it was a frantic 24 hours trying to arrange flights, get Riker into the kennel, get Doug back home, and cancel our holiday plans (we were booked for a hiking trip in Oregon and Washington). Saturday the 29th we sat waiting for our flights from Rock Springs to Salt Lake, then SLC to Denver, then on to Ottawa in busy concourses filled with people, noise, and light. The whole time we were zombies, emotionally and physically exhausted, worried about what we’d find at the other end.

Sunday we went to the ICU at the Ottawa General (my first time in one) and spent hours in another kind of waiting room: this one with dim lights, chairs clustered together for anxious families, a tv droning in the background in an attempt to distract young children from the fact that a loved one had a 40% chance of leaving the unit alive.

By Tuesday we were up in the fifth floor waiting room – plush leather couches huddled in a small room just outside the oncology wing. There were magazines and newspapers people stared at but didn’t read. There was a desk with a solitary phone because cells were not allowed. From time to time tearful individuals went in to to use it, saying things like “We need to make arrangements.”

The following Sunday we were back in stiff airport chairs, hours after we’d gotten the 4:30am phone call. The wait was over.

This morning I walked the dog past the First Assembly of God Church and noticed they’d changed the sign out front from the last time I’d gone by. Appropriately, it said something along the lines of “Suffering is an education that should not be ignored.” In my short time on this planet, I’ve certainly learned a few things: it should hurt when someone you love dies; we are all capable of withstanding and overcoming great pain; and you really can’t appreciate life’s exquisite moments without sadness.

From Dawn in life, I learned about joy and joie de vivre. In death, she’s still teaching me.

KENNY-PAGNUTTI, Dawn Adele (nee Atkins) (July 10, 1960 – September 6, 2009) Dawn Adele Kenny (nee Atkins) did not live with moderation. She loved fully, laughed loudly, traveled extensively, and was happiest when surrounded by friends, family, good food and wine. Dawn was also an accomplished shopper – whether at snappy boutiques or garage sales – and collected everything from nutcrackers to tea pots to shoes. So much of what she bought or made (she painted, knit, crocheted and refinished furniture) went to loved ones, but she gave most generously of her time and enthusiasm, which she shared with many as a volunteer at local schools, Vintage Wings of Canada, and other places.

She will be remembered for her willingness to try new things (like hip hop dancing in her mid 40’s), her fondness for lipstick, and her seemingly boundless energy. Her sons, husband, sisters, parents, grandfather, nieces, nephews, cousins, in-laws (or outlaws as they were often called), friends and cats will all miss her.

In keeping with her personality and as per her wishes, a Funeral will not be held, but rather a celebration of life party will occur at a future date. Friends and family members will be invited and a notice will be sent out by email and posted in this newspaper. The family asks that no food or flowers be sent to the house. People are invited to give a donation in her name to the Canadian Cancer Society and can bring pink flowers when they attend the upcoming party. Thank you to the dedicated and caring staff at the Ottawa General Hospital’s fifth floor, ICU and Cancer Centre